Whilst nostalgia is not in any way a favourite preoccupation of mine, I do subscribe to the hypothesis that a realistic reflection of things past can induce a more perceptive understanding into present happenings, which in turn can exert a genuinely positive influence on events in the future. A contemplative mind can greatly lubricate the wheels of progress, if you know what I mean like!
I will be forever grateful that I witnessed first hand the bountiful League of Ireland days of the 1950s. That halcyon decade provided a plethora of immensely colourful characters and their instinctively open and effortlessly beguiling style of play could not fail to unearth in even the most introverted of individuals, a pleasurable sensation of harmony and comradeship, a feeling that all was well in the world, at least for the 90 minutes that Paddy Coad and company sashayed across the verdant green rectangle that became their regal domain every Sunday afternoon. From this period and those people, I learned that imagination is the eye of the soul.
I will be forever grateful that I played during the glory days of the 1960s. Whilst I somehow missed out on the drugs, sex and rock and roll that now seem to have been available everywhere, except, that is, in the part Dublin I grew up in, I nonetheless discovered a veritable treasure trove of personal fulfilment as Shamrock Rovers won an amazing six FAI Cups in-a-row and played before vast crowds of people on a regular basis.
However, glorious and fulfilling that is was, I slowly became aware of two distinct discrepancies that somehow, slipped under my skin, and more importantly, under the radar of those in charge of Irish professional football. The first was that the air of innocence that had hung incandescently over the previous decade had given way to a more competitive and demanding era.
Ireland changed substantially and especially so in the letter part of the1960s and those running our game never noticed. Secondly, the arrival of televised highlights from England on that previously sacrosanct Sunday afternoon encouraged vast hordes of people into a different mindset and lost the League of Ireland generations of future supporters. And still and long the leaders slept.
I departed the League of Ireland in 1972 essentially because I foresaw the decline of the 1970s; a period brought heavily into focus by the sterling, yet ultimately futile endeavours of Giles, Dunphy, Treacy and, it must be said at that particular time, Kilcoyne.
This was surely the most perfect example of the right men, in the right place, but at the wrong time. The 1980s, despite the successes of the Hoops and the Candystripes, yielded a false dawn as the somnambulism continued unabated.
The 1990s presented a countenance that displayed many of the same tired features but brightened somewhat by the influence of Jack Charlton, bold new initiatives from FIFA and it has to be said a more progressive media presence. Facilities started to improve and more full-time personnel became involved in the game. Something began to stir.
In the new millennium, the FAI accepting responsibility for the professional game, allied to the move to summer soccer, meant that the clubs with the boldness to go full-time had a much stronger and more professional framework to operate in.
The FAI swept away the cobwebs of self-interest that had curtailed the imagination of clubs for far too long and clubs simply went about their own business as opposed to interfering in everybody else's. Backed by the immediate improvements in training and playing facilities the players demonstrated what their counterparts from the previous decades simply had not been allowed to, namely proving that the LOI has always possessed the talent to be successful in European competition.
It is a great achievement to win the eircom League title. However, it must be stated that outside of those with an interest in eircom League football, winning an eircom League title impresses very few people, and there is more than one reason for this. On the other hand, success in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup hastens a genuine admiration from most quarters and it is here that the real future lies.
This is why full-time football must remain. This is why our managers and directors must emerge from the bunkers of financial insecurity and unfurl a more realistic flag.
With imagination and understanding clubs could halve their wage bill, making crowd and win bonuses an integral aspect of, rather than a mere addition to, the contracts.
I grew up with a lad nicknamed 'Blister'. 'Blister' was famous for always arriving just after the hard work was completed. There have been a few 'Blister's' connected with our game in the past.
Thankfully, the eircom League is now housed with many determined people who are not afraid of providing the graft now more necessary than ever to maintain the vibrancy and add the next, and very much required, level of professional consciousness needed to keep the game alive and alert.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with nostalgia, as long as the individual retains a clear focus on what the facts are. The past has convinced me that we have always had a good product and while we have at times permitted myopia to cloud this somewhat, recent success in Europe strongly suggests that greater triumphs can be part of our future if we hold our nerve.
